You know you want them

One bowl, one spoon, a cookie sheet and an oven. Then all that’s needed is good upper body strength and the will to make warm, delicious cookies.

Over the years I’ve tried them all, from soft and chewy to hard and tooth-cracky. Stuffed, cut, rolled or dropped. Long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty; oily, greasy, fleecy, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen. Knotted, polka-dotted. Twisted, beaded, braided. Powdered, flowered, and confettied, bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!

Oh, wait. Those are the lyrics to Hair.

Anyway, even through baking dozens and dozens of cookies, 95% of the time they were chocolate chip. Because that’s what people want (except for at Christmastime when it’s suddenly anything but chocolate chip. Not sure why.)

This is the most famous chocolate cookie recipe around and I’ve got no business changing it, so I didn’t. But it does call for a cup of nuts, which I ditched when I made them, and I cut back on the salt too, because that’s how I roll.

But here’s the original recipe. And by original, I mean original. Ruth Wakefield, the owner of the Tollhouse Inn, created the recipe for chocolate chip cookies in the 1930s. And in my estimation, it’s still the best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. No matter what the New York Times says.

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups (1 package) NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE in preheated 375-degree [Fahrenheit] oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.